In civil engineering, many geotechnical and forensic projects employ polyurethane (PU) for ground improvement, and the results have shown to be effective in terms of time and cost savings. However, similar to many other chemical stabilisers, the use of PU for soil stabilisation may have environmental repercussions. Therefore, this paper utilised a toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) to investigate the potential for ground contamination resulting from the application of PU for the stabilisation of marine clay. Furthermore, the hazardousness of PU during the stabilisation of marine clay was investigated by testing its reactivity, ignitability, corrosivity and physical properties. The results reveal that the quantity of heavy metals present in PU is far below the regulatory limits. The results further confirm that PU is odourless and non-corrosive and that it is non-cyanide and non-sulphide-bearing. However, PU is capable of igniting. Overall, the potential application of PU for ground improvement is promising due to its environmental friendliness.
This paper empirically investigates the impact of overall sustainability reporting as well as its components (economic, environmental, and social sustainability reporting) on the cost of debt and equity capital for Malaysian oil and gas companies. The data was collected from 41 publicly listed oil and gas companies in Malaysia for the period from 2008 to 2017. Qualitative information was gathered for sustainability reporting and then converted into quantitative form by assigning weights according to the extent of reporting. The cost of capital information was sourced through Thomson Reuters Datastream. Panel data analysis was employed using generalized least square (GLS) random effects regression to examine the relationship between sustainability reporting and cost of capital. Firm reputation, size, and profitability were included as control variables. The findings indicate that overall sustainability reporting and one component, economic sustainability reporting, reduce both cost of debt and cost of equity. However, environmental sustainability reporting reduces only the cost of debt but does not reduce the cost of equity. Social sustainability reporting shows no effect on the cost of debt or equity. The findings of this paper should be useful for regulators, legislators, shareholders, creditors, and practitioners in pursuing sustainability practices that not only improve economic and environmental performance but also enhance overall performance by reducing the cost of capital. The results of the paper highlight that companies investing in sustainability can generate positive value through the enhancement of reputational capital. This study is the first to empirically investigate the relationship between overall sustainability reporting, including its three components, and the cost of both debt and equity capital.
The broad purpose of this study is to empirically explore the impact of globalization and financial development on environmental pollution by carbon (CO2) emissions in the six Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries using balanced panel data from 1971 to 2015. We also aimed to test the legitimacy of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for this region. The fixed-effects approach preferred by the Hausman specification test is used to estimate the empirical model, and the feasible generalized least squares (F.G.L.S.) estimator is employed to cope with any issue of heteroscedasticity and serial correlation. This study found that globalization and financial development have adverse and significant effects on environmental degradation and affirm the legitimacy of the EKC hypothesis for these countries. The finding of this study suggests that the governments of MENA countries should design and implement appropriate policies for strengthening the renewable sources of energy like wind, solar, bio-fuel, and thermal to decrease CO2 emissions and boost sustainable economic development. The policymakers should focus on the efficiency of institutions and enhancement of energy-saving projects in this region.
The current study explores the relationship between water resources and tourism in South Asia for the period of 1995-2017. The study employs the CIPS unit root test for stationarity of the variables and the CD test for cross-sectional dependence among cross-sectional units. As for the long-run parameters, a novel technique, known as dynamic common correlated effect (DCCE) model, is used which was recently developed by Chudik and Pesaran (J Econ 188:393-420, 2015b). The outcomes from the DCCE method suggest that water resources have a positive impact on tourism in South Asia. It is also proven that ignoring cross-sectional dependence among the cross-sectional units may bring about misleading outcomes. The findings of the study can be helpful for policymakers to understand the role of water resources in boosting tourism and contributing to the economic prosperity of South Asian countries.
The objective of the study is to examine the relationship between environmental indicators and health expenditures in the panel of five selected Asian countries, over the period of 2000-2013. The study used panel cointegration technique for evaluating the nexus between environment and health in the region. The results show that energy demand, forest area, and GDP per unit use of energy have a significant and positive impact on increasing health expenditures in the region. These results have been confirmed by single equation panel cointegration estimators, i.e., fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), dynamic OLS (DOLS), and canonical cointegrating regression (CCR) estimators. In addition, the study used robust least squares regression to confirm the generalizability of the results in Asian context. All these estimators indicate that environmental indicators escalate the health expenditures per capita in a region; therefore, Asian countries should have to upsurge health expenditures for safeguard from environmental evils in a region.
Field and laboratory studies were conducted to estimate concentration of potential contaminants from landfill in the underlying groundwater, leachate, and surface water. Samples collected in the vicinity of the landfill were analyzed for physiochemical parameters, organic contaminants, and toxic heavy metals. Water quality results obtained were compared from published data and reports. The results indicate serious groundwater and surface water contamination in and around the waste disposal site. Analysis of the organic samples revealed that the site contains polychlorinated biphenyls and other organo-chlorine chemicals, principally chloro-benzenes. Although the amount of PCB concentration discovered was not extreme, their presence indicates a potentially serious environmental threat. Elevated concentrations of lead, copper, nickel, manganese, cadmium, and cobalt at the downgradient indicate that the contamination plume migrated further from the site, and the distribution of metals and metals containing wastes in the site is nonhomogeneous. These results clearly indicate that materials are poorly contained and are at risk of entering the environment. Therefore, full characterization of the dump contents and the integrity of the site are necessary to evaluate the scope of the problem and to identify suitable remediation options.
In this study, we proposed integrated tools to evaluate the wind power potential, economic viability, and prioritize 15 proposed sites for the installation of wind farms. Initially, we used modified Weibull distribution model coupled with power law to assess the wind power potential. Secondly, we employed value cost method to estimate per unit cost ($/kWh) of proposed sites. Lastly, we used Fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (F-TOPSIS) to rank the best alternatives. The results indicate that Pakistan has enormous wind power potential that cost varies from 0.06 $/kWh to 0.58 $/kWh; thus, sites S12, S13, S14, and S15 are considered as the most economic viable locations for the installation of wind power project, while remaining sites are considered to be less important, due to other complexities. The further analysis using Fuzzy-TOPSIS method reveals that site S13 is the most optimal location followed by S12, S14, and S14 for the development of wind power project. We proposed that government should formulate wind power policy for the implementation of wind power projects in order to meet energy demand of the country.
In an attempt to mitigate the effects of extreme natural events caused by greenhouse gases (GHGs), a significant number of researchers and environmentalists have repeatedly stressed the importance of implementing protective measures, including the promotion of green consumption. This study examined the elements that motivated the willingness and the practice of green behavior (GB) among low-income households in coastal Peninsular Malaysia. To meet the research objectives, this study adopted the survey questionnaire method to collect data from 380 low-income households. The findings revealed that self-efficacy (SE) and environmental concerns (EC) have statistically significant effects on the attitude toward green products (ATT), while subjective norms (SN) and perceived behavioral control (PBC) have influence on the intention of green vehicles. Eventually, the study discovered the effects of the intention to adopt green vehicle on green vehicle adoption behavior. Hence, the findings of this study provide new insights for policymakers in Malaysia to place more emphasis on improving consumer attitudes, social standards, and PBC, which will ultimately contribute to the adoption of environment-friendly vehicles. In addition, car manufacturers should support this program by designing products and options that would encourage those in the low-income group to replace their conventional vehicles with green alternatives in Malaysia.
This study focuses to investigate the relationship between globalization and the ecological footprint for Malaysia from 1971 to 2014. The results of the Bayer and Hanck cointegration test and the ARDL bound test show the existence of cointegration among variables. The findings disclose that globalization is not a significant determinant of the ecological footprint; however, it significantly increases the ecological carbon footprint. Energy consumption and economic growth stimulate the ecological footprint and carbon footprint in Malaysia. Population density reduces the ecological footprint and carbon footprint. Further, financial development mitigates the ecological footprint. The causality results disclose the feedback hypothesis between energy consumption and economic growth in the long run and short run.
This paper examines the effect of climate change and financial development on agricultural production in ASEAN-4, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand from 1990 to 2016. Further, we explore the role of renewable energy, institutional quality, and human capital on agricultural production. Since the shocks in one country affect another country, we use second-generation modeling techniques to find out the relationship among the variables. The Westerlund (2007) cointegration tests confirm long-run relationship among the variables. The results from cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) model reveal that climate change negatively affects agricultural production; on the other hand, renewable energy, human capital, and institutional quality affect positively agricultural production. Moreover, renewable energy utilization, human capital, and intuitional quality moderates the effect of carbon emission on agricultural production. In addition, a U-shaped relationship exists between financial development and agricultural production, suggesting that financial development improves agricultural production only after reaching a certain threshold. Hence, this study suggests that ASEAN-4 countries must adopt flexible financial and agricultural policies so that farmers would be benefitted and agricultural production can be increased.
This paper empirically examines the effects of energy, natural resources, agriculture, political constraint and regional integration on CO2 emissions in four ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries of Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. We distinguish between renewable and fossil fuel energy consumption to see their individual impacts on CO2 emissions. The study employed a panel data from 1990 to 2019 derived from sources such as World Development Indicators, which were then analysed using Common-Correlated Effect Mean Group (CCEMG) and Augmented Mean Group (AMG) estimates. The findings show that renewable energy consumption has a negative impact on CO2 emissions while fossil fuel energy degrades the environment. The role of natural resources was found to be favourable for environmental quality with the impact of agriculture being found to be detrimental. For regional trade integration, its influence was not significant enough to offset CO2 emission. Furthermore, we discovered that political constraint induces CO2 emission. Based on the result, it is recommended that the selected ASEAN countries promote the use of renewable energy and clean technologies in their manufacturing processes, conserve natural resources, adopt eco-friendly political policies and intensify regional integration to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs.
The present study aims to identify the impact of corporate social responsibility on patients' intention to revisit the healthcare industry. Furthermore, mediating the role of patient satisfaction and patient loyalty along with serial mediation through corporate social responsibility = > patient satisfaction = > patient loyalty = > intention to revisit was also tested. The present study is quantitative in nature, while the data for the study was collected using purposive sampling from 321 patients working in eight hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan. For the data analysis, statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) and structural equation modeling through the partial least square approach (smart-PLS v 3.3.9) were employed. The study results show that corporate social responsibility forms a significantly positive relationship with patient satisfaction, patient loyalty, and patient intention to revisit. Study findings confirmed the mediating role of patient satisfaction and patient loyalty. Furthermore, serial mediation through patient satisfaction and patient loyalty was also confirmed. In the current competitive environment, understanding the direct and indirect effects of CSR activities on patient satisfaction, patient loyalty, and intentions to revisit is of the utmost importance for hospitals. These activities provide hospitals with the opportunity to take certain actions to improve patient satisfaction, and these actions increase their loyalty, which in turn encourages their intention to revisit.
Social media is playing a vital role in the promotion of green products by reshaping the millennial green purchasing intention and green consumption behaviors, resulting in progressive growth toward sustainable environment and lower carbon emission. Non-organic consumption among humans has increased the carbon emission in contrary risked environment; therefore, consumption behavior and purchasing intention are required to change for better sustainable environment. This study's goal is to determine the effects of social media in molding the consumption behaviors while considering eco-labeling, eco-branding, social norms, and purchase intensions among millennials to promote green consumption and lower carbon emission. It was decided to use a cross-sectional questionnaire survey to get information from the students of different faculties including social sciences, engineering, and bio-sciences. SPSS.V.22 and Smart-PLS were used to analyzed the data. Results indicated that social media has a profoundly good impact on molding and impacting youth behaviors regarding the green consumption, resulting in increasing intention toward sustainable environment which results in lower carbon emission. The results are in line with the predictions and contextual analysis, as the whole world is coming back toward natural life and is working for environmental protection and sustainability specially to lower the carbon emission. Therefore, students are molding themselves toward green consumption. The study recommends that future research may be conducted to study more contextual variables, who has influence on the green consumption among the general public regarding green consumptions and lowering carbon emission and stepping toward the sustainable environment.
This study explores the impact of fiscal policy on environmental pollution, employing the vector autoregressive (VAR) model on annual data from 1976 to 2018 in Pakistan. We estimate the effect of total expenditure, total revenue, education expenditures, health expenditures, and other dynamic determinants such as gross domestic product (GDP), private investment, market rate, and crude oil price on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in particular. Further, this study creates impulse response functions to check the fiscal shocks, coordinating with five scenarios of public expenditures, segregated into government revenue, and education and health expenditures. The outcomes indicate that government spending in the public sectors (education and health) had a diminishing effect on CO2 emissions, whereas government revenue that was collected from taxes improved economic growth but at a cost of environmental pollution. In Pakistan, a fiscal policy scenario has been implemented that increases government expenditures to alleviate the effects of CO2 emissions. Therefore, policymakers should provide the right direction for the feasible distribution of resources in every public sector through a powerful structure, which will ultimately reduce the overall level of environmental deficit.
This research examines how financial transformative power sector reforms affect energy efficiency and the economy in a sample of economies from South Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. We applied two stages of OLS, Bayesian VAR, and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methods to a panel data set from 1995 to 2018. According to empirical findings, institutional deficiency has a negative effect on electricity reforms, implying that the greater the impact of reforms on electricity performance, the higher the institutional efficiency, A collection of reform initiatives involving a variety of reform agencies will boost energy efficiency by up to 13% and per capita electricity access by 62%. Despite recent reforms and regulatory measures, the electricity sector continues to face challenges in terms of private investment and structural flaws such as energy inefficiency, significant technological and financial losses, low power quality, and outdated transmission and network infrastructure. Interestingly 13.2% increases can be found in energy efficiency after electricity reforms. Unlike previous studies, our findings reveal a conflict between the broader economic effects and the welfare impact on electricity consumers.
This study seeks to ascertain whether there is an unbalanced link between CO2 emissions, foreign direct investment, and economic growth in Malaysia over a 40-year timeframe between 1980 and 2019. We investigated the asymmetric relationship , using non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) technique. The findings showed a noteworthy asymmetry between FDI, CO2 emissions, and GDP in Malaysia. The long-term and short-term effects of negative FDI on GDP are both equivalent to 0.028 and 0.021, respectively. This suggests that, compared to short-term fluctuations, long-term negative FDI adjustments have a considerably more negative impact on economic growth. The coefficient of positive (CO2+) and negative (CO2-) changes in economic growth is equal to 0.086 and - 0.152, respectively. It indicates that positive changes in CO2 emissions have stronger effects in the long run than negative shocks. Considering an asymmetric association between these two variables in the short and long term, Malaysian policymakers must comprehend the dynamic relationship between FDI, CO2 emissions, and GDP to plan appropriate economic and environmental policies that will support sustainable economic development and ensure a safer environment.
This paper proposes a new technique for real-time single cell stiffness measurement using lead zirconate titanate (PZT)-integrated buckling nanoneedles. The PZT and the buckling part of the nanoneedle have been modelled and validated using the ABAQUS software. The two parts are integrated together to function as a single unit. After calibration, the stiffness, Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio and sensitivity of the PZT-integrated buckling nanoneedle have been determined to be 0.7100 N·m-1, 123.4700 GPa, 0.3000 and 0.0693 V·m·N-1, respectively. Three Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells have been modelled and validated based on compression tests. The average global stiffness and Young's modulus of the cells are determined to be 10.8867 ± 0.0094 N·m-1 and 110.7033 ± 0.0081 MPa, respectively. The nanoneedle and the cell have been assembled to measure the local stiffness of the single Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells The local stiffness, Young's modulus and PZT output voltage of the three different size Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been determined at different environmental conditions. We investigated that, at low temperature the stiffness value is low to adapt to the change in the environmental condition. As a result, Saccharomyces cerevisiae becomes vulnerable to viral and bacterial attacks. Therefore, the proposed technique will serve as a quick and accurate process to diagnose diseases at early stage in a cell for effective treatment.
The study aimed to evaluate diabetes self-care among diabetic children and adolescents and compare with glycaemic control. Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) questionnaire was distributed to patients aged 10-18 years with types 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) at paediatric diabetes clinics in Malaysia. Haemoglobin A1c levels were measured after questionnaire completion. A total of 106 patients completed the questionnaire with a mean age of 13.91 (± SD 2.48) years. Mean haemoglobin A1c and SDSCA score were 9.78 (± SD 2.43)% and 19.09 (± SD 5.81), respectively. Type 1 DM patients had significantly higher haemoglobin A1c (10.11 95% CI [9.62, 10.59] vs 8.38 95% CI [7.13, 9.62]). Total score was higher in type 1 DM although not statistically significant (19.32 95% CI [18.21, 20.43] vs 18.08 95% CI [14.28, 21.87]). Blood glucose testing score was significantly higher in type 1 DM (5.24 95% CI [4.82, 5.66] vs 3.50 95% CI [2.23, 4.77]). There was statistically significant negative correlation between score in diet subcategory and haemoglobin A1c. In conclusion, self-care activities among diabetic children and adolescents are still suboptimal. Self-care activities on blood glucose testing are significantly better in type 1 DM. Diet section correlated well with glycaemic control necessitating further research.
The use of pig derivatives in medicine is forbidden in Islamic law texts, despite the fact that certain applications offer medical advantages. Pigs can be one of the best human organ hosts; therefore, using human-pig chimeras may generate beneficial impact in organ transplantation, particularly in xenotransplantation. In Islam, medical emergencies may allow some pig-based treatments and medical procedures to be employed therapeutically. However, depending on the sort of medical use, emergency situation might differ. Using Islamic legal maxim as bioethical framework, the purpose of this study is to examine the use of pigs for the purpose of human-pig chimeric transplant from the perspective of Islamic bioethics. According to the findings, chimeric organ transplantation using pigs should only be done in emergency situations.